Driving mechanism.



J. R. GAIVIMETER.

DRIVING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 001%,1912.

Patented Oct. 21, 1913.-

nnivnvo Mnonnnrsrn Specification of Letters E's-tent.

Orig-1112.1 application filedrAug ust 22 1912, Serial No. 71$,358. Divided and this application filled betoher 30,1912. Serial no. mason.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN GAMMETER, al citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Akron, county of Summit, and State of Ohio have invented certainfnew and useful Improvements in Driving lvlechanisni, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for propol-ling dirigible aerostats or the like and particularly to improvements in that form of driving system which employs two or more separate motors or sources of power acting through. a common driving mecha nism to propel the device.

Many accidents have resulted from the derangement of the driving mechanism of aeroplanes and particularly from the failure of the prime mover. in order to minimize this hacard it has heretofore been suggest/ed that a plurality of motors be used, so that in the event of the failure of one, ci-ent power will still be available to give headway to the machine and permit the operator to make a landing; in safety.

My invention is directed essentially to the driving connection bet-ween the motors which permits power lo be supplied to the propelling meansfroru both motors simultaneously or from either motor when the other become-s dead from any cause.

This case is a division of my application driving shat-ts in line may be connected to the driving gear; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional viewon line ll--ll of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a transverse sectional view on line Ill ll} of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View on line IV-IV of Fig. 1; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an improved clutch member forming a part of the mechanism of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the numerals 1 and 2, respectively, designate a pair 01" motors which act through a differ ential 3' and chain l to drive propeller means not shown. The mechanism for coupling the two motorsuso that they may, be readily started, and further designed so that if one stops "for any r'eeson, the other will continue rate of specs, IS an improvement I clutch. member 8 secured to shaft 9, yield I able driving connection thereby hein The motor 1 is provided with dri ber 13 carried by the shaft 'lho sha .7 1;"

tremities the dill'erential gears 16 to drive the/propeller at or near its normal V L 11K;

device described and claimedin my 5 mg," application in the United Stat-e A face of which is recessed at 7 to re lishedbetwecn the motor and the ha shaft 19 carrying the dislr larly recessed at 12 to rece ve a clutch inc 9 and ll, which are substantially in lin pass through the casing 15 of the di tlal and carry upon their respective which mesh with a second set of dirl'ere gears 18 mounted upon the stud shafts 1% carried by the differential case. At one the differential case is provided with u driving sprocket 20, over which runs the main driving chain The disk 11 is provided with a roller or ball clutch comprising the annular ring 21 and balls or rollers 22 enter ing the race 23. The ring 21 is provided its lower extremity with a lug capable of slight oscillation between. the spring bump c'rs 25 and 526 secured to any suitable tired part of the mechanism. The disk (5 is connected to a similar ball or roller clutch homologously arranged, comprising the ennular ring 28, balls or rollers 29, and the race 30, the ring 28 having a depending lug 31 received between the spring bumpers and 33 mounted upon any suitable fined part, 34,- of the mechanism.

It will be apparent that when the two motors are operated in the direction of the arrows in Figs. 2 and 3, the clutches will have no efiE-ect whatever upon their operation. Should one oi": the motors stop, hove ever the tendency of the differential, for reasons which are well-known and" need not be set forth in detail here, will be to cause the motor in operation to drive the dead motor in a direction opposite to that in which the dead motornormally rotates. lVhen this state of affairs occurs the clutch associated with the dead motor will prcntial provide a clutch for locking the gears of the differential a unit, comprising a split ring nountcd upon a sleeve 36 carried by the ft The ring is slotted at 37 to receive a hey iountcd on the sleeve and has a tapered. segment 39 cut therefrom, the movement of which is controlled b a'rod '40, the end of which is forced by t e spring of ring to abut against an externallythrea-aed nut at]; which engages the internal threads in the casing of the difierential. I ollo-w cylindrical boss 43 is formed intewith the gear 17 and surrounds the A. slight annular space normally the boss from the ring. When i1 is screwed up on its threads, the will be wedged into the split ram; 35, causing an expansion of the ring the member 43 and thereby locking shaft 9 to the member 43. lhe differ l thereby prevented from operating normal manner and becomes 1n effect solid unit. if the differential is thus locked, an operation which may easily be accomplished by hand; and an attempt is made to crank the motors by the usual method of whirling the propeller, the effect will to rotate the shafts of both motors in the proper direction for starting. A s s l the motors have picked up speed a lc pressure on the arm 46 connected to a brake band at? passing over the head of nut 41 will cause the latter to back away iam the casing toward the motor 2, thus releasing direct connection between the s 9 and 10. The two motors will then i re through the differential in their normal manner.

l t bile l have illustrated and described only one specific embodiment of my inven* tion, realize that it is susceptible of wide vtariation and that the principle thereof may be embodi d'in many different structures. I therefore do not intend to limit as myself to the details of structure shown and described, but desire to cover my invenarea ly.

.aving thus described my invention, I

co in a power unit foraerostats, a pair of motors adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing interposed beween the driving shafts said motors, eans for p eventing the backward rotation motors, and means for order to facilitate starting the motors,-

locking together the shafts of the motors to cause the same to rotate in unison comprising a sleeve on one of said shafts surround ing an extension of the other, and a clutch member interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and extension.

2. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors ada ted 'to rotate in the same direction, a di erential gearing interposed between the driving shafts of said motors, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said motors, means for locking together the shafts of the motors to cause the same to rotate in unison comprising a sleeve on one of said shafts surrounding an extension of the other, a split ring interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and extension, means for positively driving the same from the second shaft, and means for causing the ring to expand against the sleeve and grip the same.

3. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between the driving shafts of said motors, power transmission. means carried by the said casing, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said motors, means for locking together the shafts of the motors to cause the same to rotate in unison comprising a sleeve on one of said shafts surrounding an extension of the other, a split ring interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and extension, means for keying the rin to the extension, and means for expan ing the ring igainst the sleeve including a wedgeshaped segment interposed between the ad jaccnt edges of the ring at the split therein.

4. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors adapted to rotate in the same direction, a beveledgear driven by each of said motors, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between the driving shafts of said motors, power-transmission means carried by said casing, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said motors, a clutch for locking together the shafts of the motorsto cause the same to rotate in unison, unclutching means including a nut engaging a threaded portion of the differential gearing, and means for causing said nut to move with relation thereto including a brake band secured to a fixed part of the device andmeans for tightening the-same over a part of the nut.

5. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of driving shafts adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between said shafts, power-transmission means carried by said casing, a clutch for locking together the shafts to cause them to rotate in unison, and unclutching means including a threaded member driven in unison with one of said relation to said threaded member includ' ing braking means secured to a fixed partof the device, and means for bringing. the same into frictional engagement with said nut.

6. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of driving shafts, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between said shafts, power-transmission means carried by said casing, a clutch for locking together the shafts to cause them to rotate in unison, and unclutching means including a threaded member driven in unison with one of said shafts, a nut mounted on said threaded member and adapted to control said clutch, and

means for causing said nut to move with relation to said threaded member including a brake band secured toa fixed part of the device, and means for constructing the same over a part of the nut.

7. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of driving shafts adapted to rotate in the same direction, a diiferentialgearing anda casing therefor interposed-between said shafts, power-transmission means carried by said casing, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said shafts, and yieldable driving connection between said shafts 8. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of driving shafts adapted to rotate in'the I is.

same direction, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between said shafts, transmission means carried by said gearing, means for preventing the'backwa-rd rotation of either of said shafts, a yieldable driving connection between said shafts and said gearing, and meansfor locking together the shafts to cause the same to rotate in unison. '7

' 9. In. a power unit for aerostats, a pair of driving shafts adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing and a casing therefor interposed between said shal'is, powertransmission means carried by said casing, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said shafts, and means-for locking together the shafts to cause the same to rotate in unison includ+ ing a sleeve on one of them surrounding an extension of the other, and a clutch memher interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and. extension.

10. Im a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors, a yieldable driving connection between each motor and its shaft, means permitting the forward rotation of either or both and preventing the reverse rotation of either motor, a difierential gearing and a casing therefor between such. shafts, and

clutching mechanism between such shafts within the said gearing, and means carried by said casing for transmitting power from both motors and either of them.

11. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing and its casing interposed between'the driving shafts of said motors, power transmission means carried by said casing, means for preventing the back ward rotation of either of said motors, andmeans for locking together the shafts of the motors to cause the same to rotate in unison comprising a sleeve on one of said shafts surrounding an extension of the other, and a clutch member comprising a split ring interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and extension, and means for causing" the ring to expand against the sleeve and grip the same, including a wedge-shaped segment interposed between the adjacent edges of the ring at the split therein.

12. In a power unit for aerostats, a pair of motors adapted to rotate in the same direction, a differential gearing and its casing interposed between the driving shafts of said motors, power transmission means carried by said casing, means for preventing the backward rotation of either of said motors, and means for locking together the shafts of the motors to cause the same to rotate in unison comprising a sleeve on one of said shafts surrounding an extension of the other, and a clutch member comprising a split ring interposed in the annular space between said sleeve and extension, and means for causing the ring to expand against the sleeve and grip the same, including a wedgeshaped segment interposed between the adjacent edges of the ring at the split therein, and unclutching means including a nut adapted to engage a threaded portion of the difierential, and means for causingsaid nut to move relatively thereto.

J OHN R. GAMMETER.

Witnesses:

WM. C. Lawson, WM. 1. HILL. 

